DIY: of complete FOG LAMP install

jpit · 11-02-2009, 09:29 PM

Thanks for your help. I found the orange and black wires from the fog light and decided to put in a switch to control the light instead.

bigaudiofanat · 11-03-2009, 02:49 PM

This should be a good project can not wait to do it for a buddy of mine.

jikhead · 11-14-2009, 06:34 PM

I just finished wiring up the relay to get the flasher to work. I will post up some pics and wiring diagrams for the relay.

simota1 · 11-14-2009, 07:48 PM

nice bro

jikhead · 11-15-2009, 01:23 AM

OK, so wiring it this way is for the foglight to only come on (and flash) while in reverse.

If your Z has the wiring harness plug for the fog light, you can utilize that plug and tap into the wiring further up in the hatch. Locate the firewall grommet that would be somewhat directly behind the hatch light. Since there is no power to the wiring harness, you'll need to tap into the larger black(-) and orange(+) wires in the wiring bundle here. Pick a tail lamp to tap into; the grounding point for all the wires back here is on the drivers side. (There is a post further up showing the wiring scheme for the wires to/from the tail lamp.) In this case only, you only need to tap into the orange (reverse light) wire. NOTE: You may notice in my pics that I've spliced and repaired the red wire. This is only because I was doing some testing with the tail lamp and whether I wanted the fog light always on with the tail lamps. I've decided against it for now, and will wire up a manual switch at a later date.

So now to the wiring harness and flasher. Wire up accordingly:
85 - wire together w/30 to orange wire of tail lamp.
86 - Ground; send wire to the grounding point.
87a - need to wire to positive of fog lamp (the orange wire 1st mentioned in the 1st few pics); also needs to wire up to X of flasher.
87 - wire to L of flasher
30 - wire together w/85 to orange wire of tail lamp.

Flasher
X - need to wire to positive of fog lamp (the orange wire 1st mentioned in the 1st few pics); also needs to wire up to 87a of relay.
L - wire to 87 of relay

Fog Light Tapped Wires
Large Orange Wire - wire to X of flasher and 87a of relay
Large Black Wire - Wire to grounding point

farmosh203 · 11-22-2009, 12:21 PM

Thanks for the writeup, I installed my fog light pretty easily yesterday. I didn't understand what you guys were talking about with the Loctite, but after attempting to unscrew the original fog light, I immediately understood what you guys were talking about. I ended up using an electric drill to unscrew the bolt, which melted the plastic, freeing the screw.

I was thinking of maybe adding a microcontroller later to do some pulse width modulation or blinking. I think if I come up with a cool idea, I'll build my own PCB and start the software process

By the way, is there any reason you guys are using Relays (moving parts, has a limited life) to control the blinking of the light? Why not use a transistor?

CBRich · 01-30-2010, 09:12 AM

For those of you wondering about the wiring I posted a DIY specifically for it. It's set up to have a full off switch killing all light, a full on switch to manually light the fog, and a second on position to allow solid light with brakes and blinking with reverse.

DIY: Rear Fog Light - Flashing Reverse - Solid Brake - Full Override

Simota1, hope you don't mind me branching this off as my DIY is specifically for a certain wiring type and I didn't want to clutter the thread.

simota1 · 01-30-2010, 04:03 PM

dont worry about it bro!!! i dont mind at all

yubman · 02-09-2010, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr_Z

Some info:

- Red = Tail (Yes, confirmed by me)
- Green = Brakes (Yes, confirmed by me)
- Orange = Reverse (Yes, confirmed by Simota1)
- White = Turn signals (?)
- Black = Ground (You will also find a ground bolt not far from the tail light inside the trunk)

Mr Z. I'm interested in adding the fog as a 4th brake light. So after installing the housing all I should have to do is run wire from the socket to one of the tail lights and tie into the Green and Black wires correct?

Also do you think it would be possible to use a InvisiCord (Invisicord Products Home Page) or something similar to tap into the OEM socket rather than slice the wires? I'd rather not cut/splice the wiring harness if nesseary.

Thanks for the great info, once the snow clears and it gets a bit warmer I'm hopeing to get this done along with the lighted sill plates.

Mr_Z · 02-09-2010, 03:41 PM

Hi yubman!

I hope I understand you correctly…
It is necessary (no choice) to splice into the green cable (for braking) but I wouldn’t slice the black cable of the light assembly for the ground… Just ground it to the chassis directly and not into the tail light. As I mentioned above when you open the inside panel (It’s needed to remove the tail light assembly) you will find a nice ground bolt there (it has many other ground connection to it) and you should use this one. But since it’s inside the truck, you will have to go thought a rubber grommet. Otherwise, there are so many other ways to find a ground… (Licence plate, tail light, direct chassis) My choice of not using the tail light ground is that I didn’t feel comfortable completely using the LED circuit because the fog light uses a regular bulb that draws more current. Besides, I also had wire a special flashing module so it was better for me to do all this from inside the trunk.

As for the InvisiCord setup. Maybe it could work… but it’s really no big deal to tap into the OEM cables. There are even some clamps especially for that (you can find them anywhere) and they won’t even cut your original cable in two… it will just make an opening to access the metal wires and create a bridge for your connection... Takes about 2 sec.

Quote:

Originally Posted by yubman

Mr Z. I'm interested in adding the fog as a 4th brake light. So after installing the housing all I should have to do is run wire from the socket to one of the tail lights and tie into the Green and Black wires correct?

Also do you think it would be possible to use a InvisiCord (Invisicord Products Home Page) or something similar to tap into the OEM socket rather than slice the wires? I'd rather not cut/splice the wiring harness if nesseary.

Thanks for the great info, once the snow clears and it gets a bit warmer I'm hopeing to get this done along with the lighted sill plates.

yubman · 02-09-2010, 05:31 PM

Thanks Mr Z for the clairification, good point about the ground and power draw of the fog light. I should probabbly convert the bulb to LED which should also last longer and draw less power.

I think I know what kind of cable taps your refereing to, I'll stop by and pick some up from home depot once the weather breaks and hopefully get the fog installed.

Thanks again for the info.

Mr_Z · 02-10-2010, 04:50 PM

Be careful with the LED setup! I have tried 5 different LED and none gave me a good result (after spending over 100$!!)

- One didn’t even fit in the socket hole!
- 2 other one did not give me nice results when it comes to inside illumination… Remember that the bulb hole is not centered… So it was designed for a single source of light… in the center. Not 12 different LED’s!
- Since I have a special socket with dual wire (normal and braking condition), the other LED’s I tried did not behave as they should when I stepped on the brakes… (To be honest I still don’t understand why but must have something to do with the inside wiring…

)

In the end, I just gave up and kept the regular bulb!!

Also FYI, I confirm that a regular bulb wired in one of the tail lights, does not dim the tail light compared to the other.

Quote:

Originally Posted by yubman

Thanks Mr Z for the clairification, good point about the ground and power draw of the fog light. I should probabbly convert the bulb to LED which should also last longer and draw less power.

I think I know what kind of cable taps your refereing to, I'll stop by and pick some up from home depot once the weather breaks and hopefully get the fog installed.

Thanks again for the info.

a370zlover · 02-16-2010, 10:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr_Z

Hi,
I've sucessfuly finished the flashing brake light mod.

Some info:

- Red = Tail (Yes, confirmed by me)
- Green = Brakes (Yes, confirmed by me)
- Orange = Reverse (Yes, confirmed by Simota1)
- White = Turn signals (?)
- Black = Ground (You will also find a ground bolt not far from the tail light inside the trunk)

You need to tap into the tail lights (see color chart above), install a flashing module and manage to install a socket that supports a dual wire bulb (7443). The 7443 socket does not fit exactly as for the original 7440 socket (sigle wire) so you need to make some adjustments in order for it to become waterproof. In my case, I used an additional rubber ring and fixed it in place with a tie-rap.

On thing though, the flashing module from flashingbrakelights.com behaves in a strange way on my setup. If the car is not started, it will flash and reset after 8 sec (normal behaviour). If the car is running, it wil not completely reset until you haven't touched the brakes for about 45sec. Very strange and I can't explain it! After 15 sec, it will flash once or twice. After 30 sec, it will flash 3-4 times. After 45 sec it will flash 4 or 5 times. I have tested it with LED and regular bulbs... the same. So if you have an idea why, I would like to hear it!

Mr_Z,

I joined this site just so I could ask you a few questions so I'm new to this forum business, haha. I had this same idea to do with my 370Z with the flashing and everything so I looked for how to do it and found this forum (yesss) so I want to do mine just like yours.

Ok so you must have bought the "Blinking Smart Stop Third Brake Light Module W/Delay" from flashingbrakelights.com like you said correct? Now, I'm no electrician, so I'm gonna have my bro-in-law help me with the install, but I want to try and understand what's going on... So you take that flashing module and tap it to the tail lights before that connection makes it to the new third tail/brake light. Seems like I'd have to tap the module to the brake lights and run it to one filament of the 7443 and then tap the tail lights to the other filament of the 7443, or is it just one wire to worry about? What I'm asking is... is the 7443 smart enough to do the tail light and brake light flashing with it's double filament as long as I have the flashing module and tap into JUST the tail light as you explain?

I just wanna do it right the first time so forgive me for the ignorance in my electrical understanding, haha... I'm actually not doing so hot in my electrical class right now as a matter of fact. Anyways, any help and tips would be appreciated, thanks for all the info. thus far.

Mr_Z · 02-17-2010, 01:41 PM

Here... Hope this helps!

BTW, my flashing unit was faulty which explained some trouble I had. The new one works as it should.

Quote:

Originally Posted by a370zlover

Mr_Z,

I joined this site just so I could ask you a few questions so I'm new to this forum business, haha. I had this same idea to do with my 370Z with the flashing and everything so I looked for how to do it and found this forum (yesss) so I want to do mine just like yours.

Ok so you must have bought the "Blinking Smart Stop Third Brake Light Module W/Delay" from flashingbrakelights.com like you said correct? Now, I'm no electrician, so I'm gonna have my bro-in-law help me with the install, but I want to try and understand what's going on... So you take that flashing module and tap it to the tail lights before that connection makes it to the new third tail/brake light. Seems like I'd have to tap the module to the brake lights and run it to one filament of the 7443 and then tap the tail lights to the other filament of the 7443, or is it just one wire to worry about? What I'm asking is... is the 7443 smart enough to do the tail light and brake light flashing with it's double filament as long as I have the flashing module and tap into JUST the tail light as you explain?

I just wanna do it right the first time so forgive me for the ignorance in my electrical understanding, haha... I'm actually not doing so hot in my electrical class right now as a matter of fact. Anyways, any help and tips would be appreciated, thanks for all the info. thus far.

simota1 · 02-17-2010, 03:46 PM

great illustration mr z rep added for being so helpful

11-03-2009, 02:49 PM	#92 (permalink)
bigaudiofanat Car Audio Installer Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Magnolia DE Posts: 8,342 Drives: 2012 Infiniti G37x Rep Power: 852	This should be a good project can not wait to do it for a buddy of mine. __________________ Need help with car audio or electronics? Let me know!! Need Help Let Me Know Direct email address reimermatt@gmail.com Owner of: Dynamic Mobile Audio Follow me below https://www.facebook.com/Dynamicmobileaudio/

11-14-2009, 07:48 PM	#94 (permalink)
simota1 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: May 2009 Location: Dededo, Guam Posts: 6,642 Drives: solid red 370z 6mt Rep Power: 404	nice bro __________________ *TOP SECRET/POWERHOUSE AMUSE/ARC/DAYTONA RACING/VARIS/MINES/GANADOR/J-LINE/WORK EMOTION CR KAI/GT SPEC/CARBON SIGNAL/ZOOM ENGINEERING/ CARBON FIBER ELEMENT/STILLEN/*

01-30-2010, 09:12 AM	#97 (permalink)
CBRich A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: SC Posts: 2,464 Drives: 370Z Rep Power: 544	For those of you wondering about the wiring I posted a DIY specifically for it. It's set up to have a full off switch killing all light, a full on switch to manually light the fog, and a second on position to allow solid light with brakes and blinking with reverse. DIY: Rear Fog Light - Flashing Reverse - Solid Brake - Full Override Simota1, hope you don't mind me branching this off as my DIY is specifically for a certain wiring type and I didn't want to clutter the thread. Last edited by CBRich; 01-30-2010 at 09:20 AM.

01-30-2010, 04:03 PM	#98 (permalink)
simota1 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: May 2009 Location: Dededo, Guam Posts: 6,642 Drives: solid red 370z 6mt Rep Power: 404	dont worry about it bro!!! i dont mind at all __________________ *TOP SECRET/POWERHOUSE AMUSE/ARC/DAYTONA RACING/VARIS/MINES/GANADOR/J-LINE/WORK EMOTION CR KAI/GT SPEC/CARBON SIGNAL/ZOOM ENGINEERING/ CARBON FIBER ELEMENT/STILLEN/*

02-17-2010, 03:46 PM	#105 (permalink)
simota1 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: May 2009 Location: Dededo, Guam Posts: 6,642 Drives: solid red 370z 6mt Rep Power: 404	great illustration mr z rep added for being so helpful __________________ *TOP SECRET/POWERHOUSE AMUSE/ARC/DAYTONA RACING/VARIS/MINES/GANADOR/J-LINE/WORK EMOTION CR KAI/GT SPEC/CARBON SIGNAL/ZOOM ENGINEERING/ CARBON FIBER ELEMENT/STILLEN/*

11-02-2009, 09:29 PM	#91 (permalink)
jpit Enthusiast Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Washington State Posts: 440 Drives: 370Z Tour MT w/Spt Rep Power: 16	Thanks for your help. I found the orange and black wires from the fog light and decided to put in a switch to control the light instead.

11-14-2009, 06:34 PM	#93 (permalink)
jikhead Enthusiast Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Little Rock, AR Posts: 425 Drives: 09 370Z Blue 6spd Rep Power: 183	I just finished wiring up the relay to get the flasher to work. I will post up some pics and wiring diagrams for the relay.

11-22-2009, 12:21 PM	#96 (permalink)
farmosh203 Base Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Arizona Posts: 24 Drives: 09 Nissan 370Z sport Rep Power: 15	Thanks for the writeup, I installed my fog light pretty easily yesterday. I didn't understand what you guys were talking about with the Loctite, but after attempting to unscrew the original fog light, I immediately understood what you guys were talking about. I ended up using an electric drill to unscrew the bolt, which melted the plastic, freeing the screw. I was thinking of maybe adding a microcontroller later to do some pulse width modulation or blinking. I think if I come up with a cool idea, I'll build my own PCB and start the software process By the way, is there any reason you guys are using Relays (moving parts, has a limited life) to control the blinking of the light? Why not use a transistor?

02-09-2010, 05:31 PM	#101 (permalink)
yubman Base Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: usa Posts: 47 Drives: 2009 370Z Touring Rep Power: 15	Thanks Mr Z for the clairification, good point about the ground and power draw of the fog light. I should probabbly convert the bulb to LED which should also last longer and draw less power. I think I know what kind of cable taps your refereing to, I'll stop by and pick some up from home depot once the weather breaks and hopefully get the fog installed. Thanks again for the info.

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